Behind the Music:Saliva

An Interview with Bobby Amaru of Saliva

Some think that America needs to be great again, bands like Saliva think what America really needs is to rock again. They brought their national “Make America Rock Again” tour to Pompano Beach Amphitheater on September 30th along with other late 90s/early 2000s favorites Trapt, Saving Abel, Alien Ant Farm, Crazy Town, 12 Stones, and Tantric.

While it’s expected to hear old WWE favorites and reminisce on Batista Bombs, Saliva just released their 8th studio album, Love, Lies, and Therapy this past June. It’s the band’s first release since original vocalist Josey Scott left to begin a solo career and Bobby Amaru stepped in (although at this point, he’s been with the band for 5 years).

While in the driver’s seat of their tour bus, Bobby took some time to answer some questions for us at Tropicult…

Love, Lies and Therapy just came out in June. How has the reaction been?

It’s been good, definitely received well. I haven’t heard anything negative. We’ve been on this tour so we haven’t really been able to go out on our own. Only been playing like one or two new songs.

Where are you guys at right now? How’s the tour going?

We’re in Baltimore right now. We played last night in Virginia, making our way down the coast.

You joined the band in 2012, what’s it like to be the new guy in an already established band?

I guess it’s like breaking up with a girlfriend and you just find a new one. It either works or it doesn’t. With this band it’s been five years. From my first year into now it’s grown a lot. We just have this cool band and we click on stage and musically. That’s been the thing that’s kept it together. We still get booked, we still have a fan base. We’re able to continue doing what we do.

What were you up to before then? Were you in a band prior?

Yeah, I was in a band called Burn Season and I did some solo stuff, wrote my own songs and got my own music. They had heard it through a mutual friend, a guy that used to work for them. He showed them some of my stuff and that’s how I got the call.

Were you a fan at the time?

I knew who they were and I’d heard some of their stuff but I didn’t like, own all the records.

On the new record, there’s a cover of Michael Jackson’s They Don’t Care About Us?

Because it’s an awesome song all around. It was tough to pull it off but I thought we pulled off pretty well. It’s definitely a fun one and a lot of people seem to dig it when they hear it.

Was Michael Jackson an influence on your growing up? On the subject, who was a big influence?

I would say he influenced many people in many genres. I saw his videos, I tried to dance but I still can’t dance. Motley Crue, I was into that. Classic stuff like Skynard and Black Sabbath.

What’s your favorite Black Sabbath album?

I would say Sabotage.

The name of the tour Saliva is on is Make America Rock Again. Is that a statement on the current rock and roll situation?

That’s a good question actually. I think it’s more about, you know putting this tour together. It’s a great lineup. All these bands have radio history and fan bases over many years. None of these bands are up and coming. It’s cool to do a tour like that. And I don’t think it has anything to do with the state of the industry. It’s just about putting a good tour together. It’s about hitting the market that still likes this music and these bands. The name just made sense for the time I guess, with the election and all that.

Do you feel the genre these bands play will make it back to the mainstream?

I think everything come back around again. People will just get tired of certain things and certain genres and they start to like something else and then miss what they used to like.